Likely because he feels that they might come to haunt him when he inevitably runs for president (and hopefully loses).

There is the veto of aid to destitute seniors who do not have documentation. Controversial in that the right wing might attack it.

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation late Sunday night that would have made undocumented seniors eligible for California’s cash assistance program. The bill, authored by Assemblyman Juan Carrillo, D-Palmdale, would have provided $1,100 to $1,900 per month to undocumented individuals who are blind, disabled or older than 65. Currently, California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) is limited to people with eligible immigration status. The measure overwhelmingly passed the Legislature last month.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article279480079.html#storylink=cpy

Then there is the veto of the sensible bill to provide free condoms to high school seniors. Again, the right might inflame hyesteria. Newsom, being none too intellectual himself, vetoed this bill.

The bill would have required all public schools that have grades nine through 12 to make condoms available for free to all students. It would have required public schools with grades seven through 12 to allow condoms to be made available as part of educational or public health programs.

https://apnews.com/article/california-newsom-free-condoms-high-school-students-bb3f8678b662face00eed64595d0ca77

The excuse was that the expense was too high. Yet, there were funds for electrifying buses.

Then there was the ban against decriminalizing psychedelics. There is no doubt the Scott Wiener is doing this so that corporations can profit through extract sales, but this is also a controversial move.

And the last thing Newsom wants is controversy!

But Newsom will support robo-trucks.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/california-governor-vetoes-bill-banning-robotrucks-without-safety-drivers-2023-09-23/

“I’m really hoping the robots take over sooner rather than later and give us increased safety,” Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), who chairs the body’s transportation committee, said during floor debate. Despite documented issues like vehicles stopping unexpectedly and blocking fire trucks, Friedman said, “DMV continues to issue permits for them to keep operating — I believe for profit reasons rather than public safety reasons.”

Do we see campaign contribution considerations involved here?

Finally, here is some cogent commentary from Jill Filipolic about Newsom’s overuse of his veto power.

CalMatters reports:

Measured against the goal he set for himself, Newsom’s record is less impressive. Just 13% of the 3.5 million homes he campaigned on building have been permitted, let alone built. He’s walked back the goal many times, settling on a new target earlier this year: Cities need to have planned a combined 2.5 million homes by 2030. So, 1 million fewer homes planned for, not built, and over a longer time frame.

Newsom rejects controls on outdoor lighting!

Facts don’t matter!

The NY Times writes: A.B. 2382: Light pollution

This bill aiming to reduce light pollution would have required all outdoor lights on state properties to have anti-light pollution shields, as well as motion sensors or automatic dimming or shut-off functions to limit the amount of light they project.

Newsom said the costs associated with changing light requirements at 24,000 state buildings “may cost millions of dollars not accounted for in the budget.”

Assemblyman Alex Lee, who introduced the bill, called the veto “extremely disappointing.” “This bill would have protected our night skies and migratory species, while reducing wasteful and unnecessary electricity consumption,” Lee told The Los Angeles Times.

Evan Symon, of the California Globe, evaluates his chances. Symon writes:

But let’s push all of what he did back in. And look, I typed “Gavin Newsom controversies” into Google and got 909,000 pages back. When I was gathering links of what he had done just as Governor from the Globe’s archives, it looked like I was going into the Library of Congress. Even giving a highlight reel would still make for a small book. Suffice it to say that for every good or successful thing Newsom has backed, such as the Care not Cash program in San Francisco in the early 2000’s that replaced giving straight cash to the homeless for medical care and other health programs, there has been one other that had disastrous consequences, like extramarital affairs with wives of his own aides.

We showed another side of Con Not Cash in our 2016 post here.

Newsom’s policies for the unhoused are discussed in the Sacramento Bee here.

Newsom claims he is not running for President but…..

https://www.chron.com/politics/article/newsom-abortion-billboard-austin-17501560.php